It's Just Sauce After All
by Rosebud5
Summary: Based on the "Pizza Box" episode, Mike is left with the suddenly daunting task of cleaning the dishes after sauce night. Just when he thinks he might reach his breaking point, he's joined by somebody who will help take the pain away and clean away all the red to leave a beautiful, pure white. Sometimes, all it takes is a gentle hand to guide you back to the ground. One shot.


Hey guys! This is my first venture into _Graceland _fanfiction, but I just love it so much, and I have lots of ideas for other one-shots that I hope to write soon, as well as update my Enjolras stories. I don't have much homework this weekend, so hopefully I can write quite a bit of stuff! I've been having some family issues, and writing is always a good way to escape them. So I hope you enjoy this! It's based on the episode "Pizza Box," set right after Briggs tells Mike the infamous line "It's just sauce."

Also Pike is my new OTP. So there's that.

Disclaimer: I do not own Graceland or the characters therein.

~Rosey

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**It Is Just Sauce After All**

"It's just sauce," Paul Briggs mumbled quietly to Mike Warren as the older agent made his way towards the staircase of the safe house, a pang of worry for his protégé running through him despite his best efforts to harden his heart towards the now-numb looking young man hunkered in front of him over a large pot of red sauce. He knew he shouldn't leave Mike alone now… Not after seeing his first death on the job, not after all that blood, not with a giant pot of startlingly red sauce in the sink… But Levi said he wanted to be alone. And if that's what Levi wanted, well, that's what he would have. So, with one last worried glance towards the shattered agent, Briggs silently turned and headed up the stairs.

Mike waited for Briggs's footsteps to vanish before he allowed the sob he had been holding back to finally escape his lips. Tears beaded along his lashes far too quickly for his liking, and no matter how hard he tried to sniff them back, he knew a serious breakdown was near on the horizon. No matter how hard he tried to shut his eyes against the fears bubbling in his heart, he kept seeing Eddie… The gun, the shot, the blood… And then, when he opened his eyes, there was more blood. No, no, not real blood of course… But the sauce was too hellishly red and no matter if his eyes were opened or closed there was _so much red…_

"Mike?" A familiar voice came from behind him, and it was a voice he loved to hear… He knew he loved it… But right at the moment, every voice sounded like gunshots, and he jumped a little, the pot clattering to the floor, the red spilling over the white tiles. He cursed, taking a stumbling step back from the bloody… _No, not bloody it's just sauce Mike it's just sauce… _the saucy mess, tripping and crashing to the ground, luckily away from the red and not into it.

"Mike!" The voice was now right beside him, right in his ear, worried and warm. But he couldn't bring himself to open his eyes. Not with all that bloody red… Not with the red…

"Mike, come on, it's alright… You're okay," the voice whispered, gently now, as slender arms wrapped around his shoulders. "Open your eyes for me, Mikey."

Slowly, deliberately, Mike turned his head away from where he knew the sauce was and towards the voice before he opened his eyes. There was Paige's beautiful face, inches from his, and he took a deep, composing breath as the young woman gently brought a hand to his cheek. "There's those blue eyes," she smiled gently, running her thumbs under his eyes and wiping away the stray tears that had managed to escape.

"Did you hurt yourself when you fell?" she asked quietly as she gingerly moved a stray lock of Mike's hair back into place.

Mike had to think for a minute, his heart still racing and his one-track-mind still focused on Eddie. But Paige was slowly starting to creep into his thoughts as well, and he managed to shake his head, letting out a small whisper. "Don't think so."

Paige searched his face for a moment, still holding him against her, before mumbling softly "You saw your first on-job death today, didn't you?"

Mike blinked in surprise, and then swallowed thickly, nodding. "I'm that easy to read?"

"No, but this is how I was my first time too," she said softly, offering him a sympathetic smile. "Pizza night. Red sauce everywhere. Probably not as extreme as Charlie's friggin' swimming pool of sauce, but it sure seemed like a lot to me."

Mike frowned a little, running a shaking hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, Paige… That really sucks."

"It was a little over a year ago. I'm alright," she smiled reassuringly, taking his trembling hand in her steady one. "But you, on the other hand, might want some help cleaning this mess up. I don't want you doing it on your own, okay?"

"Paige…" he began to object, but when he saw the look on her face and the bright red sauce on the floor, he had to nod a little. "Okay. Thanks."

"You're welcome," she kissed his temple lightly before getting to her feet and holding out a hand to help him up. Mike took her hand in his and struggled to his feet, still avoiding looking at the red sauce.

"Alright, I think some paper towels should be able to clean up the floor pretty quickly," she began, kneeling down to pick up the pot and put it back in the sink. "There's not that much."

Mike nodded and silently went over to the paper towel roll on the counter, pulling off several sheets and attempting a weak joke under his breath. "It's probably sacrilegious for Charlie's sauce to touch the floor, huh?"

Paige chuckled lightly and stepped over to take a few squares of paper towel's for herself, kneeling down by the sauce and starting to wipe it up off the ground. "I don't know. One time Johnny was drunk on sauce night and spilled his spaghetti all over the floor and she said something about 'no respect,' but nothing about sac religion."

Mike smiled slightly and knelt down beside her, reaching out a hand to try and clean up some of the sauce himself. But as soon as he managed to get the paper towel to hover over the mess, he found himself pulling back, swallowing and shaking his head. "Paige, I can't…"

"It's okay, Levi," she mumbled gently, using his House Name in an attempt to get him to smile. She carefully took his hand in hers and guided it over the sauce, wiping up the mess and leaving the floor clean and white beneath. She smiled and guided his hand over the rest of the sauce, and soon enough he stopped shaking so badly and managed to finish cleaning the floor with her hand just hovering over his rather than guiding it.

"There ya go," she grinned as he stood up and quickly disposed of the paper towels in the garbage can. "Floor's clean."

"Thanks," he smiled back sheepishly as he walked back towards her and the sink. "Now um… I can do the pot by myself…"

"I don't think so," she shook her head stubbornly and pressed his shoulder gently. "I'll help you."

Mike bit his lip, embarrassed, but knowing he needed her there. Finally, he managed a small nod and turned towards the pot. There was hardly any sauce left after the earlier attempt at cleaning and the spill from moments ago, and as soon as Paige came up behind him and put her hand over his again, the sauce really _was_ just sauce, and the pot wasn't quite so big after all.

"There ya go, Mike," she said soothingly as she guided his hands through the water, wiping away the last of the sauce and watching it spiral down the drain. "That's it. See? You're done."

"Thanks," he turned from the sink to face her with a sheepish smile. "I'm… I'm sorry about all that…"

"Don't be," Paige shook her head. "It took Charlie two whole hours to calm me down after Pizza Night. You managed Sauce Night with just a little help. I'm proud of you."

Mike had to smile at this, and found himself pulled in by Paige for a warm hug, her fingers carding gently through his hair. "Now get some sleep if you can, Mikey. I'm just down the hall if you need me, you know."

"I know," he nodded a little as he pulled back from the hug. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. And don't tell Abby that anything is wrong. It's too early in your relationship to go all angsty on her," Paige winked before she embraced him one last time and then vanished up the stairs.

Mike stared after her, and then blinked. _Abby_. He had almost forgotten about Abby. She hadn't even crossed his mind since earlier when he found he couldn't stay for their date. He then glanced back up the stairs after Paige, and sighed slightly.

Well, it was good to keep some secrets around Graceland anyway.

And with that, he turned and headed towards bed.

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Well? What do you all think? Since it's my first Graceland fic, I'd LOVE some feedback, good, bad, or indifferent! Thanks, lovelies!

~Rosey


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